All Right
by Hay Bails
Summary: Set immediately after 'The Doctor's Daughter.' The Doctor is having a hard time coping with the loss of Jenny. Donna tries to comfort him.


This sketch begins during the deleted scene in The Doctor's Daughter (link: watch?v=VV-p2ur1EJ4), which is really quite moving and you should watch either before or after you read this.

* * *

"How are you, Spaceman?"

He had been standing there, cradling one hand to his chest like a stuffed toy, a thing of comfort. He had stopped the moment he had felt my presence in the room, but I had seen it. The hurt.

_How are you?_ I replayed the question in my mind. Looking into his eyes, I realized how silly a question it had been. He had just gained a daughter, and lost her. Of course he wasn't going to just stand there with a smirk and respond, 'Fine, thanks. Where to next, Earthgirl?'

He said nothing, just glanced at me and looked away without a word.

How strange.

The Doctor was never this withdrawn, and I was worried. I'm not ashamed to admit it. My chatty alien usually never shut up. Now I couldn't get even a single word from him.

A bit nervously, I took a step forward and put a gentle hand on his arm. He turned to face me. I slowly placed both my hands on his chest, over each of his hearts.

"You see that pain, in there?" I began softly. "That doesn't mean you were wrong to let her in. It proves you were right." I took a breath, and looked into his eyes.

He looked down for a moment, collecting himself. I was amazed that he didn't cry. My brave Time Lord. The Doctor was nothing if not strong.

"What do we do now?" he asked, softly.

I moved my hands down to grasp his arms. "We go on. We live. We remember," I said. I held his gaze. "What else can we do?"

He looked away again. I didn't want him to start crying – I mean, honestly, what does a person do with a broken Time Lord? – but by the same token, he did look like he needed it. Sometimes all anyone needs is a way to let out all that emotion. He took a breath, composed himself, and took the smallest of steps away.

"Where do you want to go?"

I let my arms drop from his. He would, I hoped, open up to me, in time.

"Let's find a new world. For her."

He smiled, then. It was a small smile, but it meant the world to me.

Then the Doctor turned, and fired up the TARDIS. If his movements were a little halfhearted, neither one of us mentioned it. The machine whirred and spun gently for a few minutes before coming to rest.

I looked at the Doctor, who was leaning with both hands against the console, staring blankly ahead.

"Spaceman?" I asked cautiously, taking a step toward him. "Where are we?"

He closed his eyes. "A new world."

"Ah." I waited for him to elaborate further. When no other information was forthcoming, I took another tiny step so that our shoulders almost touched. "Shall we go outside, then?"

He looked at me. "Can't," he said simply.

"Why not?"

"Because we're in orbit around it."

"Ah."

He closed his eyes tightly, taking a breath. "If you open the doors, you can see it. Lovely scenery."

"All right." I hesitated a moment, then walked to the TARDIS door. I opened it slowly, then brought my hand to my mouth. "Doctor, it's… it's beautiful."

I heard him shuffle over to join me. "It's a gas planet. Can't land on it. But yes… it is beautiful, isn't it?" He looked out over the planet's swirling surface, rippling with sparkling blues and silvers. His fingers brushed lightly against mine, and I gently grasped his hand.

"Does it have a name?"

"New world, you said. It wouldn't be new if anyone else found it first and named it."

"Hm." I brushed my thumb gently against his knuckles. "Jenny would have loved it."

He sniffed quietly. "Yep…" he popped the 'p' lightly. "She would…" His voice cracked, and just like that, the wall was broken. He began to sob, turning his back to me.

"Oh, my Doctor," I said softly. I moved my hand very slowly to his shoulder, squeezing gently. I wrapped my other arm around him, pulling him to me. I rested my cheek on the back of his neck. "It's all right to cry, you know."

I stroked the back of his neck for a minute or two, then without warning, he turned around and pulled me into a bear hug. He buried his face in my hair and cried his hearts out. "Donna… Oh, Donna… I'm so, so sorry…" His words were muffled, but even through that, I could hear how miserable he sounded.

My poor alien.

"Ssh, I've got you, love," I whispered into his chest. I slid my arms around his waist and began to gently rock back and forth. "Donna's got you."

"I… I used to… to be a d-dad…" he stammered between sobs, as if it was the most important thing in the universe to him. Maybe it was.

"Oh, honey." I held him as he latched onto me.

"I'm a h-horrible father…"

I pulled away a little, grasping his wrists. "You aren't."

"They've all… they're all…" He looked down, weeping, unable to continue.

"You're a perfect father. You love your children very much-"

"They're all _dead._" He sank to his knees, burying his face in his hands. "And I j-just… let it h-happen…"

I knelt beside him, and hesitantly reached out a hand. I began to pet his hair, smoothing it down. "Spaceman," I began. "This isn't your fault. She knew what she was getting into."

"We… she could h-have been… b-brilliant…"

"Oh, Doctor… come here, love." I wrapped a hand around the back of his neck and pulled him close, into my chest. He buried his head in my shoulder. I could feel his hot tears seeping into the fabric of my shirt as he gasped for breath, and I found my own eyes beginning to well up. There was so much pain bundled up in that small body of his. I wished I could take a slice of it for myself, so that the Doctor wouldn't have to suffer as much.

I began to rub a hand up and down his back, and after a few minutes, he seemed to be calming down. He sniffed, and looked up at me.

"Donna… I am so, so sorry…"

"Oh, hush, alien boy. No apologies," He gave the tiniest of smiles. I moved both my hands to the back of his neck. "That's what I'm here for. How are you feeling?"

"I'm all right."

I smirked, and rubbed a hand against his cheek affectionately. We turned to gaze at the gorgeous planet before us.

"Me too, Spaceman. Me too."


End file.
